Dispensing cabinet



Oct. 20, 1931. P. D. PARSONS DISPENSING CABINET Filed Nov. '17, 1928 [/1 v2 "for, Phil/ b 0. farm/1s.

v UNITE-D Patented Get. 2Q, 1931 ICE 1 some, c a oaaTIon-or rnnrsr vame rsrnnsine va iants Application fileditlhvmberl'i, 1928., seri -1no.f32'0,oa1,

i 7 My invention has ior its. object the embodi ment in a dispensing cabinet of eerta'in'featnr-esof construction which will .automatioalj 1y cause a stack of specially "folded paper towels/and the like, to feed downward by gravity through the cabinetin a positive manner and cause a flap of the lowermost towel to fall, bytgra-vity, in such manner vas to he presented through an orifice whereby it'may be readily grasped and the towel with,- drawni Y -1 I More speciiioallyconsidering the construe:

tion, the cabinet is of :a- :width from front.

wall to rear wall considerably less thanthe width 'oztthe articles to-be dispensed, and the support for successively receiving and su's-' taining' the forward portion of the towels. improvements fur her'provide a tra sverse opening intermediate of the obliquely downwardly extending support and the obliquely upwardly: extending pocket por tion, aforesaid; tor permitting a lower flap on the underside; otthe lowermost paper towel to falh.by gravityfwhereby it is pres sented' to be grasped, while.theabody ojf th-e tonned as a door. 1

towel off-which 'i iE lmS apart is sustained bylthepoeket and the obliquely downwardly eXtendingiorwar-dportion. t

improvements further embo dy in the construction above stated; wherein the front wall and the obliquelydownward and rearwaridi extending w su piporting. portion is My invention also ,nomprehcnds other featuressot construction which, together with those aboveenuinerated, will he :hetter' under-f stood by reterence to the drawings iandnane morespeoificallyrecited the claims;

front elevation of a cabinet-embodying invention; Fi 12 is a vertical section through the same on. fine 2- 2ofihig. 1-; Fig. 3 is a transverse section: through the sarne, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1'; 'Fig. i-is a perspective viewof one of the towels and Fig. 5 is a per-,

spective. yiew' framefl f it 1 "2 is a box-like structure having back, sides and top, and providediat its bottom with an oblique supporting and closure plate 3 extending forward andupward from the back and having a-projeeting lips? 'which'is'bent outward from the plane 'iofith'e plate 3 and so shaped that it provides between it and the transverse hinges a transversely formed openingifi of a width 'approiimating' the entire width of the box-like structure;v More; over this opening 6' is preferably so shaped bythe pnojecti-ngflipffof; the plate 3 that an increased openingatQor vabout the mid? "dle lower part *of the cabinet is provided, whereby the flap-of "the lowermost paper of" a portion of the cabinet towel may be supported by the lateral'pore V tions 7a of the lip '7, so that the flap may be readily grasped between the finger-and thumb in the actlof withdrawing itand the p per towel iof which it forms a part, as inore fu lly descri'bed hereinafter. a 8 represents the front vclosure and is of shorter vertical height than the back of the box-like portion 2, and has its 'lowerlend bent obliquely rearward, as 2tl3-9, in substantial alinement with the plate andterminated in a hinge portion constituting a part-"of the transverse" hingei'whichnnites it to the aforesaid plate 3 and provides, as it. werefan upward continuance of thelpl-ate 8 beyond the hinge. The sideedges {of the -it'ront plate 8 are inwardly flanged as at 10, to fit within the side walls 5 of the box-like v structure, theupper-edge of the front plate 8 is inwardly flanged, as at 11, to fitinside of the top plate 12 of thebox-like structure and is also provided with a suitable'lock13, where iing surreptitiously opened and e con-tents cabinet, and consequently, they automaticah ly feed downwardly with positiveness and accuracy;-

Owing to the extends to a greater extent toward the rear or back of the cabinet thanat-the front, and consequently very little pressure, if any, reaches the front or doorportion 8. Furthermore, the forward folded ends 15 of the paper towelsrest withfar lighter pressure upon theplate part .9 adjacent to the hinge 4, than occurs with the rear portions 17. of the towels asfthey settlexdown into the socket portion 3a at the juncture of the back 2a and thebottom plate 3. .The result of this is that a firm pull upon the flap 18 of the lowermost towel will readily withdraw the lower end ofzthe towel from out ofthe socket portion 3a andthrough the transverse opening 6, and immediately following the release of qthe saidclowerportion of the towel and flap, the upper portion will be easily withdrawn from its contact with the supporting part- 9-of the cabinet, and without disturbing the next adj acenttowel above.

I do not limit myself to the use of the cabinet with towels in which both of the flaps 15 and 18 are folded to onetside of the body portion, as it is equally applicable to what is known. as the 2 fold towel, wherein the upper'flap 15 is folded over the opposite face of the body; It is, however, more satisfactory that the flap 15-:should be folded downward and rest upon the metal supporting portion 9 from whichit may readily slide whenpulled, rather than have its free edge in frictional contact with the paper towel immediately above. Furthermore, in the fold as shown, the bodypart of the lowermost "towel, when being withdrawn, slides over theifiap 15 of the towel-next adjacent and in no way tangles the said flap.

To enable the attendant to-know when the cabinet requires refillingwith towels, I provide a verticalwindow oraperture 19 in the front plate or cover 8adjacent to its lower vertical face, and through which the edges of the stacked papertowels may be viewed. In this manner, it may readily be ascertained that there are only a.few remaining towels in the cabinet and that a refilling of net is in order. g

' The cabinet is easily refilled with the towels properly positioned within it by the following manipulationpThe front plate or cover 8 isunlocked-andswung downward into the dotted position, Fig.2, which leaves the-body parts horizontally, the cover obliquity of the paper towels 16 within the cabinet,the weight of the .towels the cabi-- placed, and upon which they may be tilted backward into the position shown in Fig. 2 before the cover is raised. On the other hand, while the towels arepositioned' vgith ate 8 may be turned upwardly and act to li t the forward edges of the towels and tilt them upon the transverse hingeinto the position shown in'Fig. 2 by the-mere act of closing said cover plate. This oblique arrangement ofthe towels within the cabinet is positively assured-by reason of the shape of the several parts of the cabinet, and more particularly, by having the depth of'the cabinet from front to rear considerably'jless than the transverse width of the'towels, taken'across the flaps 15 and 18. 1 J

Referring more particularly to the general structure ofthe cabinet, -I prefer-to make the top and two sides in one pieceiof stamped sheet metal, as shown in "5,

wherein the sides 5, 5, are integrally formed with the topportion12 and the edges of said parts 5, 12, 5, flanged as at 20 for attachment to theback plate 2a byspo't welding. Ialso provide the side portions 5'with inwardly extending panel portions 21, the said portions acting as guides for the ends of :the paper towels, as indicated in dotted lines in ig. 3. I also provide the bottom parts of the sides 5 with short flanges 22 to which the bottom plate 3 is securedby spot welding. Furthermore, the-top portion 12 of the cabinet isextended downward {at the front to forma box-like structure 12% beneath which the top flange 11 ,of the hingedcover plate 8 is'received and'engaged by a spring catch 23, the spring 24 of which extends rear-' wardly and is spot welded to the top plate. The lock 13is provided with a part 13a by which the spring catch 23 may be raised for releasing the hinged cover plate, when it is desired to open the cabinet for're-charging it. The flanged portion 12a o f-the top plate may be reinforced with an "angle plate which extends obliquely downward and back ward to the back plate 2ct'where it is spot welded. This oblique platefacilitates the po sitioning of the paper towels when theyzare moved backward into position within the cabinet, the plate acting upon the rear parts found in practice to give satisfactory'and reliable results, it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inVentionJ Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent 1. In a cabinet for dispensing paper towels and the like, a box body portion open at the front and having at the bottom an oblique closure portion forming a transverse socket, between it and the back of the box body por- 7 tion and providing a forward lip at a slightly higher elevation than the socket portionrand over which the article to be dispensed mayv be withdrawn, combinedwith a cover plate at the front of the box to close it, said cover plate having an inclined rearwardly extending flange at its lower part, said flange transversely hinged to the boX body portion at a distance above the lip and intermediate of the front cover plate and the back of the box to provide a transverse opening between said cover plate and the forwardly projectinglip, and in which further, the rearwardly eX- tending flange of the cover plate is inclined in alinement with the transverse socket portionto provide an inwardly and downwardly directed support for the forward portions of the articles to be dispensed, and wherein further, the lip of the bottom closure portion forming the lower boundary of the delivery opening is bentdownward in themiddle to increase the size of the opening in a vertical direction at or adjacent to its middle portion.

2. In a cablnet for dispensing paper towels v and the like, a box body portion open at the front and having at the bottom an oblique closure portion forming asocket between it and the back of the box body portion and providing above and forward of the socket a transverse delivery aperture of approximately the full width of the cabinet, com bined with a front cover plate having'an angular portion at the bottom extending rearwardly and hinged in advance of .the trans verse delivery opening forward of the bottom closure portion and at a distance to the rear of the front of the cover plate, and

wherein further, the upper interior portion of the box-body'is provided with an obliquely and rearwardly extending guide plate for insuringthe depression of the rear ends of the articles being-inserted, whereby said articles incline downwardly. f V i In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand. v r

PHILIP D. PARSONS. 

